Vacation Job

September 25, 2008 (InfoPowa News) — Online poker player Olivier Lombard (23) paid for his vacation and then some this year when he decided to enter the Titan Poker $2.5 Million Guaranteed online poker tournament while on holiday from his job as a French civil engineer.

It was a decision that earned him the $500,000 first prize — despite a rather rocky start when he almost forgot to play in the qualifying tournament just days before the big event. At the last moment he remembered to redeem a free token to the $2.5 million satellite, and he finished in the top five to earn a seat in the final.

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, Lombard was able to win the 14-hour big game against an entry field of 1,596 contestants while still vacationing in Senegal.

"I kept the stakes far from my mind and played as rationally as I could," he recalled later. "I made sure to change strategy often during the game, depending on the opponents and the blinds."